Masaharu Doi
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
He graduated from the Faculty of Law at Tokyo Imperial University in 1920 and joined Sumitomo Head Office that same year. He moved to Sumitomo Chemical in 1942, so his career at the company itself was less than five years by the time he became President. Two years after the move, in February 1944, he became a Director, and in February 1946 a Managing Director. A law graduate rather than a chemical engineer, he followed the path of being sent from the Sumitomo head office to an operating company. He was born in Hyogo Prefecture in 1894.
Selection
In April 1947 he became President, succeeding the former management, including Seijuro Kobayashi, who had stepped down in the occupation-era purge of public officials. The company was then called Nisshin Chemical Industry, having dropped the name Sumitomo in February of the previous year in line with the guidelines for dissolving the Sumitomo head office. With the purge emptying the executive ranks all at once, a Managing Director who had come over from Sumitomo Head Office five years earlier was moved up to President. On April 15, 1949, two years after he took office, the company's designation under the Excessive Economic Power Deconcentration Law was revoked, and it escaped being broken up.
Initiatives
In May 1949 the company listed on the Tokyo and Osaka stock exchanges, and in December of that year it took over all the facilities of the former Sumitomo Aluminium Smelting, establishing integrated aluminum production. In August 1952, after the San Francisco Peace Treaty took effect, it returned to the name Sumitomo Chemical. In May 1958 the Ehime Works began producing ethylene and low-density polyethylene. It was Japan's first such plant, using the high-pressure process of Britain's ICI, and put the company ahead of its rivals in entering petrochemicals. In November 1962 it brought in polypropylene technology from Italy's Montecatini. Net sales grew from ¥14.8 billion in the fiscal year ended December 1952 to ¥56.3 billion in the fiscal year ended December 1962.
Career
Career
Sumitomo Head Office
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| 1920 | Joined |
Sumitomo Chemical
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| 1942 | Joined |
| Feb 1944 | Director |
| Feb 1946 | Managing Director |
| Apr 1947 | President |
| Feb 1963 | Chairman |
| Feb 1963 | Stepped down as President |
Shikoku Electric Power
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| May 1951 | Director |
Shinto Paint
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Nov 1951 | Director |
| May 1961 | Audit & Supervisory Board Member |
Sumitomo Bakelite
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Mar 1955 | Director |
Seitetsu Kagaku Kogyo
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Nov 1961 | Director |
Fuji Oil
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Apr 1964 | Director |
Sumitomo Chiba Chemical Industry
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Nov 1965 | Director |
References 3
References (Japanese primary sources)
- 日本企業要覧 1962年版
- 日本企業要覧 1966年版
- 『住友化学工業株式会社史』（住友化学工業, 1981年）